Seiler: Percoco, live at the Garden

Published 3:54 pm, Saturday, May 14, 2016

What does Madison Square Garden want from Joe Percoco?

It's a question worth asking in the wake of the news that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former executive deputy secretary is one of many people and entities under the microscope of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara.

Of all the governor's former aides who have departed for the private sector, Percoco seemed the least suited for life outside Andrew Cuomo's court. With the exception of a few years working for KPMG in the wilderness period between Cuomo's disastrous 2002 gubernatorial run and his election as attorney general in 2006, virtually Percoco's entire adult career has been spent with the governor: beginning in Mario Cuomo's administration, then with Andrew Cuomo at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and finally a total of nine years since Cuomo became attorney general.

Make that almost nine years — the exception being the seven months in 2014 when Percoco served as Cuomo's campaign manager and, according to the aide's disclosure filing for that year, as a consultant to Albany-based CHA Consulting and Syracuse-based COR Development, two of the 20 companies of interest in the federal subpoena dropped on the Cuomo administration two weeks ago. (COR says it never paid Percoco.)

Madison Square Garden's Dec. 10 release announcing Percoco's hiring as senior vice president is exquisitely opaque on the question of what he will be doing: "In this newly created position, Mr. Percoco will utilize his significant expertise to play an important role in numerous Company priorities, including working closely with the executive management team to develop and execute strategic business opportunities that drive the overall advancement of the Company."

The six months that followed have provided no clearer sense of Percoco's value to MSG, though the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Cuomo's former aide was still behaving an awful lot like his current aide: helping to organize a celebratory minimum wage rally, escorting the governor to the Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn.

MSG is owned by the Dolan family, the controlling shareholders in Cablevision of Long Island. In September, it was announced that Cablevision would be sold to a European company, Altice, for almost $18 billion. The acquisition (technically a merger) has spent the past several months before regulatory bodies including the state Public Service Commission, a panel whose members are appointed by the governor, with Senate approval. It's unclear when a final ruling will be made.

This is not to suggest that the PSC's decision will be swayed by Percoco, the Dolans, Cuomo or the Illuminati. But if you're a controlling shareholder in Cablevision, isn't it better to have friends than not to have them?

PSC spokesman James Denn insisted the commission "will make its decision regarding Altice and Cablevision the same way we have made all of our decisions in the last six years under this administration — based on the merits and record in the case, and ultimately what is best for the people of the state."

Then again, a clue to Cuomo's philosophy about the sort of regulator he wants for the PSC might be seen in his nomination last year of the Rev. Floyd Flake of Queens as a commissioner.

The former congressman's career is not rich in experience with telecommunications and energy, though he was a partner in Aqueduct Entertainment Group, the winning bidder in the ridiculously shady 2010 competition to build a racino at the Aqueduct Race Course. (AEG's win was scrapped amid a state investigation.)

After Flake's nomination in January 2015, Cuomo's press office pointed to his work on the governor's first Moreland Commission panel, which looked at the response of power companies on Long Island to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. A 2014 investigation by The New York Times found that the panel's effort was marked by the same sort of meddling that would bedevil Cuomo's second Moreland Commission, the one on public corruption.

Flake ultimately changed his mind about the PSC, choosing instead to concentrate on his pastoral work.

There's one piece of compelling evidence that Cuomo isn't any sort of puppet master at the PSC: More than a year after Flake dropped out, he has not yet nominated a replacement.

The Cablevision-Altice merger is not without its critics. Some have pointed to the massive debt that the buyer will take on, and have expressed worry that the deal will result in workforce reductions and reduced customer service.

One thing is guaranteed: If the sale goes through, lack of financial resources will not be a problem for the Dolans.

MSG, of course, has many other reasons for wanting to stay in the good graces of state and local officials, including the generous tax breaks afforded to the Garden. That's why it's among Cuomo's most generous donors.

Last week, the law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hannah announced it had parted ways with Todd Howe, the lobbyist who has joined Percoco at the center of the investigative webwork. One imagines that was done because standing by Howe would be disastrous for the firm's business.